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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Identity of Hariri Van Bomber Still Unknown

2011-08-18

[An Nahar] The identity of the jacket wallah, who detonated a large quantity of explosives concealed in a Mitsubishi van, killing ex-Premier Rafik Hariri and 22 others, remains unknown, the indictment released by the international tribunal said Wednesday. "On 14 February 2005, at about 12:52, closed-circuit TV footage shows the Mitsubishi Canter van move slowly towards the St. Georges Hotel," the indictment said. At about 12:55, the male suicide bomber detonated the explosives concealed in the cargo area of the Mitsubishi Canter van with engine block number 4D33-JO 1926. "Forensic examination has established the quantity of explosives was approximately 2500 kilograms of TNT (trinitrotoluene) equivalent," the indictment said. "Fragments of the suicide bomber were recovered at the scene and forensic examination has established both that the remains were: (a) of a male, and (b) not of ABU ADASS," it added. Shortly after the kaboom, two of the suspects named in the indictment Hussein Oneissi, 37 and Assad Sabra, 34, acting together, called Rooters and Al-Jazeera TV network in Beirut. Then Sabra called Al-Jazeera again and gave information on where to find a videotape that had been placed in a tree at ESCWA Square in Beirut. The videotape was recovered together with a letter. In the video, which was later broadcast on television, a man named Ahmad Abu Adass falsely claimed to be the suicide bomber on behalf of a fictitious fundamentalist group using the name "Victory and Jihad in Greater Syria."

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

UN Hariri Murder Report Unravels Abu Adas Mystery

2005-10-23

The mystery of Abu Adas, a Palestinian refugee living in Lebanon, was resolved by the UN report into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on Friday as he was acquitted of any involvement in the murder. The 24-year old had appeared in a videotape broadcast by al Jazeera television on February 14th 2005 , and announced he had carried out the bombing. A previously unknown group, Victory and Jihad in Greater Syria, “Al Nusra wal Jihad fi Bilad al Sham” claimed responsibility for the murder and announced in a videotaped statement that the ex- Prime Minister had received the punishment he deserved. Shown on the Qatar-based channel, the tape featured the confessions of Ahmad Abu Adas, who alleged he murdered Hariri, accusing him of being a Saudi agent, in revenge for those killed in the Kingdom. UN investigator Detlev Mehlis indicated, in his report released on Friday, “Abu Adas was in Syria and forced to read out the statement at a military checkpoint after which he was killed. The tape was sent to Beirut the morning of February 14 th 2004 and a civilian with past criminal convictions was asked to accompany a security officer to the Hamra district in the capital where they were to leave the videotape and then contact Ghassan bin Jeddo, al Jazeera’s chief in Lebanon to inform him about the its location.” In a chapter entitled Ahmad Abu Adas, the report reconstructed the Palestinian Islamists’ final hours. It also described how, around 2:11pm on the day of the assassination, an hour after Hariri was killed, an unknown individual telephone Leila Bassam, the Reuters bureau chief in Lebanon and spoke to her in a non-Lebanese accent”. Fundamentalists in London who analyzed the videotape told Asharq al Awsat, “The message by Abu Adas broadcast on al Jazeera is highly suspicious.” Dr, Hani al Sibai, an Egyptian Islamist and Director of al Maqrizi Center in London said “The appearance of Abu Adas barefaced and the language he used were suspect.” In his view, the intelligence services implicated in the murder hid behind the “easy target”, which is al Qaeda and organizations that are linked to it, in an attempt “to blame Islamists” for the murder. Watching Abus Adas on screen, “I felt he was being held captive and made to read a message prepared by someone else”, al Sibai recalled, adding that he had never heard of the organization which allegedly masterminded the attack on Hariri. In her testimony to the UN probe, Bassam said an unknown individual contacted her at the office and dictating the following message: “We, the Victory and Jihad in Greater Syria organization, claim responsibility for murdering Rafik Hariri. His killing should serve as an example to others.” For his part, Bin Jeddo remembered receiving four separate telephone calls on February 14 th, from the same unknown group announcing it carried out the assassination. The first caller, who had an “African, or Afghan, or Pakistani accent claimed he was from the al Nusra wal Jihad group which killed Hariri”, according to bin Jeddo. Sometime later, the al Jazeera offices received a second call from another member of the organization who spoke fluent Arabic and explained to the staff how to retrieve the videotape with information on the attack. Ben Jeddo said he sent a colleague to a building in Beirut where he found an envelope with the tape and a written detailed explanation of the assassination inside. Following repeated calls from members of the group inquiring why the Qatar based satellite channel had not yet broadcast the statement, the channel showed Abu Adas claiming responsibility for the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister. Subsequent investigation revealed that Sheikh Ahmad Abdul Al, current leader of the fundamentalist al Ahbash group, which has a large following in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, received a telephone call from the presidential palace requesting information on Abu Adas. UN investigators revealed they had evidence suggesting “The Syrian President’s brother-in-law, Asef Shawkat, took part in forcing Abu Adas to record the videotape, two weeks prior to Hariri’s assassination.” The report added that the killing occurred over ground and no proof existed that Abu Adas drove the car which carried the explosives, adding that the Palestinian Islamist was used to mislead the investigation and that the tape was sent from Damascus to Major General Jamil Sayyed in Beirut before being left in the Hamra district and broadcast on the afternoon of February 14 th 2005. “Abu Adas who left his home in Beirut in January for Damascus was killed in the Syrian capital”, the report indicated. Al Qaeda organization in Syria “al Qaeda fi Bilad al Sham” denied in a statement broadcast on the internet the involvement of any Islamist militant groups in the assassination of Hariri. “The attempt to blame salafi or jihadist organizations aims at fostering conflict”, the message said, blaming instead the Syrian or Lebanese security services for the murder.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hariri's killers 'recruited from Syrian-linked group in Iraq'

2005-02-20

Assassins who killed Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister, travelled from Iraq through Syria to carry out the attack, according to the Beirut judge leading the inquiry into the bombing. Rachid Mezher, the senior investigator for the Lebanese military tribunal, said that the organisers had been recruited from Islamist groups linked to Syria and operating against the US-led coalition in Iraq. Although no firm ties with the Syrian regime have been established, his comments suggest strong circumstantial evidence of a connection. There's something in my head that keeps repeating "Mugniyeh... Mugniyeh..." Investigators believe that a suicide bomber drove a car laden with explosives into the 60-year-old billionaire's convoy last Monday, killing him and 14 others. Judge Mezher said that a video in which a fanatic called Ahmed Abu Adas said the attack was the work of "Victory and Jihad in Greater Syria", an unknown group, was a genuine claim of responsibility. My instinct is that the vid is genuine, and that the "group" is very small, pick-up, and will be heard from no more, unless somebody else needs boomed. Like Wally Jumblatt. Abu Adas is probably now back in Mosul, unless it actually was a suicide car boom, in which case the witnesses are all dead. Abu Adas, 23, a Palestinian Lebanese believed to have fled the country, attended two Beirut mosques known to be recruiting grounds for the Ansar al-Islam group, linked to the Jordanian extremist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. That could be significant, or it could mean that they brought in a top-grade professional to do the job. Guys with turbans stick out less in the Muddle East than an Irishman would. Investigators suspect that the mosques have ties to Sheikh Abderrazak, a Damascus cleric who has helped fighters travel through Syria to Iraq. The Beirut attack bore similarities to suicide bombings carried out in Iraq by al-Zarqawi, who has increasingly strong ties to al-Qaeda. "We know that Adas had Saudi Arabian nationality and used his passport to travel to Iraq and Syria," said Judge Mezher in his only interview with a British newspaper. "The man converted to strict Muslim beliefs two years ago and returned to Lebanon only recently." "Strict Muslim beliefs" is a polite way of saying "Salafism," of course... The regime of the Syrian president, Bashar Assad, denies involvement in the attack and has rebuffed calls from Lebanon and America to remove its 15,000 troops from the country. It has a history, however, of using extremists in Lebanon as proxy killers. However, a Syrian intelligence official based in Lebanon said: "There was a gap in security exploited by the terrorists and their web must be investigated. This criminal act was an attack on Syria as much as it was on Lebanon." So do we see swarms of Syrian investigators, following up every clue? Watch the hands, not the mouth... Mr Hariri, prime minister for 10 years, resigned last year after Syrian pressure led to the extension of the term as Lebanese president of Emile Lahoud, his chief rival. Previously pro-Syrian, Mr Hariri had planned to campaign during May's general election against Syrian influence. Walid Jumblatt, now the leading Lebanese opposition leader, has accused Damascus of commissioning the attack on Mr Hariri. ... and the UN warned of the possibility of just such an attack, against either Hariri or Wally, just a day or two before the boom. This leads me to believe the UN knew something was in the works, probably something uncovered by the Frenchies, who are often very good. He is now at the vanguard of a popular movement to force the Syrian troops out of Lebanon. "He got killed and we are all on that list, there is no immunity," he said. "Syria is responsible. Who else? We don't want to open war with Syria, but they must go out." Since the warning pointed to Syria, and "we" equals at least Wally, he's got cause for concern... The Syrian president is a member of the Alawite religious sect, feared throughout medieval Europe as the Assassins. When its leader wanted an opponent killed, he handed a follower a dagger and his wishes were carried out. Many Lebanese believe that Mr Hariri's death was commissioned in similar fashion by Syria's Mukhabarat intelligence service. At the Zoqaq al-Blat mosque, a stronghold of the pro-Syrian Akbash sect, the imam blamed foreign powers - meaning America and Israel - for Mr Hariri's death. "This intervention is designed to disfigure Lebanon and is the work of foreign forces who mean us harm," he said. That's the F7 key on their word processor... American support for Lebanese opposition demands is growing. One administration figure said of the assassination: "If Syria did authorise this, it's the stupidest thing they could have done." Makes you wonder how Baby Assad made it through eye doctor school, doesn't it?

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Government claims suicide bomber behind murder

2005-02-16

The Lebanese government said initial investigations indicate former Premier Rafik Hariri was killed by a suicide bomber. The government also firmly ruled out calls for an international probe into Hariri's assassination in which 13 other people were killed and more than 130 wounded according to official estimates. "Nope. Nope. Can't do it." Interior Minister Suleiman Franjieh said: "The security services are almost sure that it was a suicide car bomb. It is not a final conclusion, but it is almost sure." Commenting on a French proposal to allow outside investigators to examine the evidence surrounding Hariri's murder, Franjieh added: "An international inquiry is unacceptable. Investigators will, if necessary, call upon experts from neutral countries." If they actually want to solve it, they might consider calling on investigators selected for their competence, rather than recruiting some Uruguayans or Fiji Islanders... Franjieh said investigations had shown that the explosion, which ripped through Hariri's motorcade, killing the former premier along with 13 other people, occurred in the middle of the street, ruling out earlier speculation that the blast was caused by a booby-trapped car parked on the roadside. But since Hariri's convoy was equipped with state-of-the-art equipment capable of jamming or disabling remote-control detonators, speculation has arisen that the explosion may have resulted from a bomb placed in a manhole under the street and detonated manually as his car passed over it. A previously unheard of group calling itself Victory and Jihad in Greater Syria claimed responsibility for the murder, but military experts told The Daily Star that the attack was more likely to be the work of a technically sophisticated group with access to hi-tech explosives. The primary suspect, Lebanese based Palestinian refugee Ahmed Tayseer Abu al-Ads, who security officials say appeared in a videotape claiming responsibility, remains at large despite police attempts to find him. ... though they're still picking through the rubble. But a statement attributed to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda denied that Hariri was killed by Islamists and blamed either the Israeli Mossad or the Lebanese or Syrian regimes for the attack. I can't really think of any reason for the Mossad to bump him off. The Syrians are a different story, which is why our ambassador's pulled up stakes... The statement, posted on the Internet in the name of the Al-Qaeda Organization in the Levant, said the previous statement was mere fabrication, adding: "The priorities of the Jihad groups in the Levant are to support our brethren in Iraq and Palestine, not blow up cars." "We blow up cars in others places, not here. It just wouldn't be right..." Security sources told The Daily Star that the suicide attack theory was extremely probable. The sources said two of Hariri's cars lost their tracking devices after the blast, while the third became stuck, jamming mobile communications in Beirut for over two hours. They said that the remains of an unknown car were also found at the scene. According to the source, a computer was seized by the Interior Security Forces from Ads' home for investigation. Meanwhile, more than 24 hours after the assasination, the Civil Defense forces were still looking for body parts possibly trapped under the rubble. The entire bomb site remained cordoned off throughout the day, as construction workers cleared debris from surrounding hotels and high rise buildings.

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